Raindrop Phantasm
by Kamikaze Wraith
Summary: Not long after the Grail War, Shirou leaves on a mission for the Mage's Association. When he returns feeling lost and stricken, the specter of misery follows him to Fuyuki. But then, doesn't bleakness nurture hope? A short story in three parts.
1. Earth to Ether

It was raining.

"_**Bloody fuck, he ran the bastard through!"**_

"_**Fuck this, let's leave!"**_

"_**Shirou!"**_

"_**-the fuck, don't let go of her! Shit, gimme the-"**_

"_**It's over- what the fuck are you-"**_

"_**SHIROU!"**_

A black-gloved hand sneaked out from under an umbrella, allowing the falling water to wash away grime and bits of dried blood.

'_It was for the greater good, right?'_

It had all seemed so easy, back at the start. Disconcerting, perhaps, but easy and rewarding.

The perfect opportunity to begin following his father's footsteps.

How laughable.

Seconds passed. The hand clenched into a fist, withdrawing back under the umbrella.

Emiya Shirou sighed.

'_Home, sweet home,' _he thought as he trudged through Fuyuki City's darkening streets, _'at least I managed to get back in one piece, but…'_

A powerful gust of wind interrupted his thoughts, blowing through the loose ends of his tattered black coat and forcing him to move his umbrella to avoid a shower of rain.

"Looks like even getting to the house will be tiring," he muttered to himself.

It wasn't like he was going to be getting much rest, regardless. What little sleep he'd be able to catch when he got to the Emiya complex would be interrupted by having to head off to school early next morning. Unhealthy, perhaps, but a necessity – his excuses for his absences were running thin, and he owed Fuji-nee too much to get kicked out.

'_The so-called protector of justice can't even keep himself out of trouble at school. Pathetic, Shirou, really pathetic, but it looks small when compared to my other-_

"Emiya! Emiya-kun!"

Shirou snapped out of his pondering for the second time, looking around to see the Archery Club captain, Mitsuzuri Ayako, running towards him, a purple umbrella in her left hand and a smile on her face.

"Emiya-kun," she repeated when she finally reached him, "it's such a surprise to see you! I mean, weren't you sick?"

Shirou froze for a moment, not knowing what to say. He and Ayako were friends, but their friendship had taken a backseat during the Fifth Holy Grail War, and Shirou's frequent disappearances had done nothing to rekindle it. Seeing her address him so familiarly, even after he had all but completely ignored her existence for weeks on end, left him rather dumbfounded.

"Ayako! I… er… what are you doing out in this weather?"

Ayako quirked an eyebrow, as if Shirou had said something strange.

"I'm going back home from school, silly! You know, that big place you used to go to in the mornings?"

Shirou nodded tentatively, completely missing the jibe at his frequent absences.

"But school ends after four o'clock," he said, "why would you be going back home this late?"

"It was my turn to clean the Archery dojo." She rolled her eyes. "Something you'd remember if you weren't gone so often. By the way, you don't look sick at all. What were you actually doing?"

Shirou's eyes widened. Of course she had to notice.

"No! I… er, I really was sick, but I made an impressive recovery!"

"Riiight." Ayako frowned. "You know, I never expected Emiya Shirou, the very model of the hardworking student, to just skip school like that. You always seemed so dedicated."

Before Shirou could respond the sound of thunder rolled above them, startling them both and causing Ayako to look up.

"The rain's getting worse," she said, staring at the clouds. She turned to look at Shirou again. "We really shouldn't just be standing here."

She smiled.

"Walk with me, Emiya-kun. I'll ask you what I want to know on the way."

She started off, and Shirou could only follow, his formerly slow pace quickening to match Ayako's step.

"So…" Ayako said as Shirou finally caught up with her, "first things first. What have you been doing that's so important that you had to skip school?"

'_What have I been doing?'_

Memories of his recent failure flashed through Shirou's mind. He couldn't tell Ayako what he'd been up to. However, he realized with a shock that he'd been gone for almost three weeks now, and that wasn't even counting his previous absences. He had to tell her _something_…

"I've been leaving the city because of personal matters. Things prompted by several objects my father left me when he died that I hadn't inspected until now." He sighed. "It's rather private, which is why the excuses I sent the school aren't the real thing. I don't want people snooping around."

All true, in a way, and he knew Ayako wouldn't pry.

Sure enough, she nodded and said nothing more, seemingly thinking about another subject to talk about.

Finally, she seemed to land upon something good, and turned to speak to Shirou again.

"So... what's with the coat and the hair? I didn't think you'd be the kind of person to go for the "dark" look, Emiya-kun, but," and here her voice took on a teasing quality, "I kinda like it on you."

A slight blush quickly colored Shirou's face at her words. He'd never been equipped to deal with teasing, as one Tohsaka Rin had proved before.

"I… it's, uh…"

Ayako giggled.

"You're so easy to fluster, Emiya-kun. But really, at least tell me why you did that to your hair."

Shirou brought a gloved hand to his hair, feeling nothing different.

"What's wrong with my hair? I haven't seen myself in a mirror for a while."

"You really haven't noticed? The roots are bone white!"

Shirou stopped walking abruptly, the memory of someone coursing through his mind.

"Emiya-kun? Is something wrong?"

"_No!_ I mean, there's nothing wrong at all." He started to walk again. "So, what have you been up to lately?"

"Oh, well, nothing particularly interesting. Just the usual Archery club duties."

"Uh... really? I thought…"

The pair walked on, the formerly serious conversation degenerating into small talk as Shirou changed subject after subject to prevent more questions from being asked. Things continued in this manner until they reached the threshold of Ayako's house, where the girl started walking towards the door, before turning around and smiling at Shirou.

"Well, Emiya-kun, since I made you walk all the way here, how about you come inside for dinner?"

Shirou felt rather startled for a moment, but that quickly wore off. Surely, he thought, he should have realized that Ayako wouldn't make him walk with her to her house just to leave him there.

'_Still… I don't think it'd be a good idea to stay here. It's going to be pretty late by the time I leave, and after what I did yesterday, that would…'_

"Emiya-kun?"

Shirou nearly jumped as Ayako shook him from his reverie, but managed, through a feat of amazing eloquence, to give an educated response.

"Huh?"

Ayako rolled her eyes.

"Is it just me, or are you phasing out even more often than you usually do? I was asking you if you'd like to come in for dinner."

'_Gotta find a way out of this one…'_

"Ah, Ayako-san," he said, "I wouldn't want to er… intrude, or someth-"

He was cut off as Ayako decided to take matters into her own hands, grabbing his right hand and pulling on him as she walked towards the front door.

"You're just being silly, Emiya-kun," she said, "Your house is too far away for you get there in time for dinner. Come on in!"

Shirou sighed, but let himself be dragged inside.

'_Good going, Shirou. Is this how I get out of a complicated situation? Father would be __**so**__ proud…'_

--------------------

"Wait here," she told him, "I'll be back in a second."

Shirou nodded, and she left, leaving him to inspect the place. Ayako's house wasn't nearly as large as the Emiya complex, but it was cozy and well decorated. A delicious smell of food permeated the place, which Shirou assumed to be coming from the kitchen. All in all, the little house gave off a touch of warm humanity that much bigger and grandiose places, such as Ilya's castle and Rin's manor, seemed to lack.

Smiling, Shirou unbuttoned his coat and dropped himself on the couch.

"Warmth…" he whispered. Almost a month without it, except for one person…

'_**The operation will take three weeks. The result will forever clean your father's memory and fulfill…'**_

'_**Heh. So, who are you? We don't really-'**_

'_**You were ultimately the winner of the Fifth Holy Grail War! Has that taught you nothing- '**_

'_**I'm Shirou, and you?'**_

'_**You can't fulfill this goal without killing, your father knew that-'**_

'_**Call me Yumi.'**_

"Emiya-kun?"

Shirou started, Ayako's voice shattering his thoughts.

"Yu- I mean, eh, what's up?"

Ayako shook her head, smiling before unceremoniously plopping herself down beside Shirou.

"Are you this distant because something is troubling you, Emiya-kun? Or is it something… different?"

"Different?"

Ayako smirked.

"Well, since you won't tell me what's wrong, I'm being forced to draw my own conclusions." Her smirk widened. "Does it have something to do with Tohsaka?"

"To-Tohsaka!?"

Ayako's expression looked positively malicious now.

"Well, Emiya, isn't it true that she's been going in and out of your house more and more frequently these past few months? That could give rise to all sorts of…rumors…" She gave him a wicked grin.

"They're completely false," Shirou cut in sharply, "whatever you heard, it's nothing but a lie."

Ayako turned serious. "Jeez, I was just kidding…"

"Er, really?" Shirou blushed a deep red, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I've just been a tad high-strung lately, nothing to worry about."

Ayako cocked her head.

"You're hiding something, Emiya," she said flatly.

"I have absolutely nothing to hide at all," Shirou answered. His tone had a ring of finality to it that, judging from her face, Ayako didn't like.

"Really, now?" she asked, "And that little girl with the white hair that's taken to following Fujimura-sensei around? Fujimura says she's the daughter of a friend from Europe, but I've passed by your house and heard her call you 'brother'. And what about Sakura? Not five months ago Shinji vanished from the face of the earth and yet she's still acting so cheerful she might as well have won the lottery. And those gas explosions… they seemed normal enough, but then one of my other friends swears on her heart that she saw you carrying someone out of Ryuudoji the night the temple grounds caught fire."

"Ayako…"

"Children, dinner's ready!" a voice rang out from the kitchen.

"That'd be my mother," Ayako muttered, before giving Shirou a broad smile, "we're friends Emiya, so let's go eat and have some fun. But don't think it means I'm letting you off the hook."

Shirou gave her a troubled look.

-------------------

Shirou and Ayako walked out of the house, going down the streets in silence for a moment. The girl had decided to accompany Shirou through the first part of his trek home, and after some fast-talking from her to convince her mother, the two left, and as the rain had subsided to nothing more than a very faint drizzle the two were content to walk beside each other peacefully. That is, until Ayako decided to start up a conversation again.

"So… tell me Emiya, did you like it?"

A slight bit of color tinged Shirou's cheeks as the image of Ayako's mother swam in his head. He hadn't met her before this, and he'd found, to his flustered –if pleasant- surprise, that she was really quite… exhuberant. In every way that mattered.

"Emiya?"

Shirou almost jumped.

"Er… yes! I liked it! A lot!"

Ayako just stared at him. Shirou gulped.

"Eh… what were we talking about?"

Ayako shook her head in frustration.

"Dinner, Emiya, _dinner. _Not… other _things_… that you may have had in mind. I swear Mom just sometimes…"

She stopped short, giving a little sigh, but then looked Shirou in the eye with a small smile.

"Well, at least you've stopped brooding, Emiya," she said, "that's a-"

She never finished, the sentence degenerating into a scream as she jumped backwards, almost crashing into a surprised Shirou.

"Ayako… what happened?"

"That thing almost hit me!" she shouted, pointing to the ground.

It was a very long, thin iron needle, sharp enough that the force of whoever had thrown it had been enough to embed it firmly into the asphalt. Shirou's eyes flew open in surprise, gloved hands unconsciously clenching into fists.

"Emiya?"

Shirou said nothing; simply staring as two more needles silently flew through the air and struck the ground near his boots. He would have one second to react. And he was going to use it.

"Ayako… get down!"

Acting purely on instinct, Shirou roughly shoved the girl to the ground, ignoring her protests as he whipped his black umbrella open.

'_**Trace, on!'**_

The attack was swift and deadly; thousands of needles falling from the air just as Shirou was jumping back and the Reinforced umbrella was going up, spinning in his hands as it blocked the attack like an iron shield.

From behind his makeshift protection, Shirou could only barely discern his shadowy attacker jumping from rooftop to rooftop towards the street, throwing needles until his landing forced him to stop. Shirou immediately took the opportunity, closing his umbrella and throwing it at his opponent with all his might. His attacker, surprised, managed to dodge, the magically strengthened umbrella impacting against a nearby building and plowing a crater in one of the walls.

The attack served its purpose, however. His opponent had been forced from the shadows in order to dodge the incoming projectile, and now stood before him, his features finally visible.

He was a tall, thin man, impeccably dressed in a long blue suit coat with a matching wide-brimmed fedora hat. His bright green eyes looked upon Shirou from a pale face, their stare calculating.

"How good to see you, Emiya Shirou." His voice, lilted with an only barely noticeable Italian accent, was soft and cold.

Shirou knew this man.

"Raphael."

The man tipped his hat slightly in acknowledgement.

"Glad you remember me, Emiya," he said politely, "Wearing your father's coat again, I see? He was a great magician."

Shirou ignored the comment, staring at him intently.

"Why are you here?"

Raphael cocked his head, stare almost condescending.

"I am here, Emiya Shirou, on business purposes." He raised a hand, holding up three long needles. "I assume you know what that means."

"I thought it was over," Shirou argued, "There should be no reason for you to be here."

Raphael raised an eyebrow.

"It does seem that way, doesn't it, Emiya Shirou? Indeed, you were not the only one to think that way." He grinned slightly. "But fortunately for my bank account, family ties run deep."

Shirou shook his head, frowning.

"Other parties? That can't be. Who is it?"

Raphael gave him a steadily widening grin, its sharp relief sinister under the harsh light of the streetlamps.

"Does it matter now? You know I won't answer. And is it not obvious, what I came here to do?"

Shirou's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah," he said, "it is."

Raphael nodded.

"Then I assume you'll have no problem if we were to start? By the way, I do hope that girl knows what this is about. Contrary to popular belief, I find killing innocent by-standers gets boring with time."

'_That girl… who… no!'_

"…Ayako?"

Shirou twisted his neck slightly, looking behind from the corner of his eye. Sure enough, the girl was there, kneeling on the asphalt.

'_What is she still doing here?'_

Ayako, for her part, seemed to notice that she had become the center of attention, and looked at Shirou, bewildered.

"Emiya-kun," she said, and there was quiver in her voice, "what's going on?"

Shirou fought the urge to curse. "Ayako… this doesn't involve you. I want you to get up and start running. Quickly!"

The girl obeyed, rising from her knees, only to throw herself back to the ground with a scream of fright as a long iron needle flew towards her, imbedding itself into the cold asphalt only inches away from her. She stopped for a moment, looking at the thing in shocked fear, before she finally appear to gather her bearings and turned around, running away from them.

Shirou watched her silhouette recede into the dark streets for a mere second before his attention immediately returned to Raphael. That had not been a missed shot. It had been a warning.

"Why?"

Raphael simply stared, impassive.

"She has already seen me, Emiya Shirou. I will give her courtesy until after we are finished, but once that is over, well… you know what I must do."

Shirou's gloved hands tightened into fists, anger boiling in the pit of his stomach. Threatening him was one thing. Threatening innocents was much different.

"I can't allow that," he said, his eyes narrowing and his voice turning into a cold whisper.

"So it would seem."

The needles were thrown, instantly batted aside in a flash of light as Shirou charged forward, twin falchion blades appearing in his hands. Dodging the counterstrike, Raphael leapt backwards to keep his distance. Needles materialized in his left hand, while three long rapier-like blades flashed into existence in his right, each held carefully between his fingers.

"Black Keys…" Shirou muttered, his grip on his own swords tightening unconsciously.

"Correct," Raphael said, holding the weapons up, "an agent of the Church contacted me not too long ago, but he became a tad too… bothersome. I dispensed of him and kept his blades. Contrary to popular belief, they make as good melee weapons as long ranged ones."

He settled into a fighting stance, the loose ends of his blue coat fluttering almost theatrically in the wind.

"They should be able to match you effectively," he said, and then he struck, Black Keys swiping down on Shirou's form like claws. Shirou brought his swords up to block, but was almost floored by a sudden kcik towards his knees. Thrown off-balance, Shirou leapt back, but Raphael was attacking before his feet even touched the ground. A flurry of needles flew towards him, forcing Shirou to concentrate on batting them aside, diverting his attention.

Raphael took this advantage to its limit, leaping forwards into the air, twisting around to land behind Shirou, and then striking at him with his Black Keys. Swinging around, Shirou blocked the strike, but could not predict a high kick that flew past his defenses and slammed into his chest, sending him flying.

Shirou spun around the air and landed gracefully a few meters away, but Raphael was already onto him. Blue coat flaring, the man ran at him, sweeping down and aiming a low kick at Shirou's knees. When Shirou jumped to avoid it, Raphael struck with his blades, forcing Shirou to sacrifice his balance in order to block. The red-haired boy fell to the ground with a thud, blades flying away from his hands, and was too shocked to avoid a kick to the gut which knocked him back down when he tried to get up.

Raphael smiled, readying his Black Keys for another strike. On the ground, Shirou tensed, waiting.

"Why, Emiya, I expected-"

He never finished, his gloating interrupted as Shirou flipped over at exactly the right minute, catching Raphael in the chest with a strong kick as he righted himself and stood up again, blades reappearing in a flash of light. Before Raphael could recover from the surprise Shirou struck again, slicing at him with his right hand blade as he swooped his left one under his arms, trying to force his way through Raphael's defenses.

The assassin blocked the first blade and jumped back from the second, but Shirou kept charging forward, throwing his right sword straight at the man. Raphael back flipped to avoid it, then made to move again as the blade suddenly changed course in the air, veering back at him like a boomerang. Shirou saw this and pressed the attack, slamming his boot into Raphael's torso and sending him flying backwards just as his blade returned to his hand. Surprised but uninjured, Raphael righted himself in mid-air, a storm of needles flying from his coat as he twisted around to land perfectly on the wall of a nearby building, heedless of gravity. Twirling his blades in a fan-like motion, Shirou batted the needles aside and charged at Raphael, swords missing the man by an inch as he leapt off the wall and into a nearby alley. Shirou brazenly followed, running in with his blades held high.

Sure enough, Raphael was there, waiting patiently as he rested his back against the opposite wall of the alley. He did not attack, nor did he show any signs of aggression. He simply looked at Shirou, a mysterious smile on his face.

"You have improved much, Emiya Shirou. You have improved _very _much," he cocked his head to the side, eyes scanning Shirou from top to bottom, "and to think that your skills were beyond pathetic when we first fought each other."

"_**Shirou-kun? Don't tell me you're still thinking about your father…"**_

Shirou scowled, his grip on his blades tightening. The last person he wanted to hear praise from, however backhanded, was someone like Raphael.

"Oh, yes. Do you remember that encounter, Emiya?"

"_**Gentlemen! How nice to meet you!"**_

"Conversation won't get you anywhere, Raphael," Shirou said, eyes narrowing, "You said it yourself – we both know what you're here for."

Raphael smiled somewhat conceitedly, arching an elegant eyebrow as if he did not comprehend what Shirou had just said.

"My, my, Emiya," he spoke, his tone derisive, "and here I thought you and I were at least on cordial terms with each other!"

Shirou shook his head in repulsion.

"Your words are worthless. Quit dawdling."

Raphael looked somewhat surprised, and yet his expression was strangely pleased.

"You really have changed much, Emiya Shirou. I must admit, I was not expecting that little outburst; you always did seem so calm." He smirked. "However… if you're not in the mood to talk, then let us dispense of this little reprieve!"

Shirou tensed as Raphael ran straight at him, swinging his Black Keys in a wide arc. He sidestepped the blow, sweeping his right-hand blade up to strike at the man's neck. Raphael jumped back to avoid the stroke but did not advance again, instead vaulting over a trashcan to land on a nearby wall. In less than a second he was running upwards, heedless of all laws of physics. Shirou again jumped to strike him, and again he missed, this time left to watch as Raphael ran up the alley wall and reached the roof of the building.

"So, Emiya!" the man yelled as he smirked down at Shirou, "Care to take this fight to the next level!?"

Shirou frowned, anxiety starting to tug at his mind. He had only done this once before in combat, and now Raphael had the advantage to snipe at him while he tried to reach him.

It didn't matter.

Wishing fervently that he had some sort of battle cry for moral support, Shirou steeled himself and forced what prana he could to his legs, running straight at the wall and jumping up, sprinting the moment he felt his feet come in contact with the concrete.

"Ha!"

A rain of needles fell down on him as he ran, but one swipe of his blades knocked them aside as he leapt forwards into the roof to strike at Raphael, falchion swords sweeping down over his head. The assassin ducked, swiping at Shirou with his Black Keys in retaliation. Shirou danced around the strike, almost losing his balance in the process. He recovered his footing easily, but Raphael was already out of range, having jumped to the opposite side of the roof.

"Unimpressive, Emiya!" he taunted, "Is the altitude causing you problems?"

Shirou didn't bother to reply, immediately launching himself across the length of the roof, breaching the distance between them in a second, and bringing his swords down in a flurry of blows. Raphael twisted and turned around every strike, until he finally jumped off the edge of the roof, landing at the top of another building in a single, fluid leap. Shirou followed, charging prana to his legs and jumping off in a flurry of his dark coat, descending on the man with a meteor like strike aimed at his chest. Raphael halted the blow with his own blades, pushing Shirou back into the air as his left hand withdrew more of his needles. Shirou whirled around in the air, balancing himself on one hand on the edge of the roof in a surprising feat of acrobatics and throwing a kick at Raphael. It caught the underside of the man's left wrist, knocking the needles out of his hand and forcing him to step back, grunting in pain. Shirou used the brief respite to fully climb up to the roof, bringing him and Raphael on equal ground once more.

"Impressed now?" he jeered in gasping breaths as the man clutched his wrist in pain.

Raphael smiled.

"Not quite!"

A whirlwind of iron and blue cloth engulfed Shirou's vision as Raphael seemed to instantly recover, jumping up and twirling in the air as he threw what seemed like thousands of needles at him. Shirou blocked those that he could and dove around the others, but could not stop them all. At least a dozen slammed into his skin, penetrating through even the thick folds of Shirou's coat. He stumbled back, gritting his teeth as sheer agony tore through his muscles. More came yet, slamming into his flesh as he cried out in pain.

'_Poison!'_

A bout of mad laughter filled Shirou's ears as he reeled from the attack, trying to regain his footing.

"Emiya! _Emiya!_ I must admit, you are truly an _amazing_ individual! Such fire!" the laughter turned into a raspy cackle, "But you have entertained me! I intended to kill you quickly, but no! No! I will give you a _beautiful_ death!"

Shirou could barely see anything from the pain, but he felt the kick slam into his chest, sending him skidding into the ground merely inches away from the edge of the roof, one of his legs actually dangling from it.

"_**-you're a fool, Emiya Shirou. A fool, but a good person-"**_

"_**-I believe he'll succeed, even if-"**_

The sound of footsteps approaching him. Shirou's vision slowly blurred back into focus and he saw Raphael gazing down at him, Black Keys ready to strike.

"Well then, Emiya," he said, "where should I cut first?"

"_**-not you, damn it, you didn't have anything to do with this-"**_

Shirou didn't answer, simply lifting his head off the ground slightly to glare at Raphael, his breathing ragged and impotent hands clenched into fists.

'_I have to do something!'_

He couldn't let Raphael kill him. Though at moments Shirou had regarded his life to be of little value, he knew that if it all ended here, Raphael would go after Ayako.

"A slash to the base of the spine, perhaps? Or where the hamstrings join the calves? There's such beauty in the body, Emiya, it would be such a shame not to take advantage of it…"

Raphael would go after her. She would die, and so would her mother. Shirou couldn't allow that. He just… couldn't.

He stared up at Raphael, who was slowly pacing nearby, looking for all the world as if his only trouble were to decide what kind of cake to eat. Breathing deeply, Shirou concentrated. His healing advantage had been nullified in the past Grail War, but these injuries were minor. All he had to do was burn the poison. He still had power for that, he could feel it…

Raphael stopped pacing, looking at Shirou smugly.

"Gathering prana, Emiya?" he asked, "I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that."

'_Too late…'_

Green eyes widened as Raphael finally caught on to the severity of the situation. Running forwards, he lashed out with his blades, slashing down at Shirou while he still could.

But it was indeed too late.

There was a flash of gold light, and Shirou had caught the strike with newly created blades. Another flash, and Raphael was stumbling back from a kick to the gut as Shirou stood up, grunting from the effort as the prana almost overloaded his system, burning the poison. Needles clattered to the ground, pushed out by the energy. The wounds were not healed, but something as small as that was no obstacle.

Shirou smiled as he looked at a shocked Raphael attempt to recover. Pain was worthless. He had someone to protect.

The smile turned into an uncharacteristically predatory smirk.

He also had an evil to wipe out.

Twirling his blades, Shirou ran at Raphael, slashing at his knees. The man barely managed to block, still stunned by what had happened. Pressing the attack, Shirou slammed a kick into his chest, sending him flying back to the edge of the roof. Raphael managed to stand up, only to receive another kick that forced him to leap back into the air over another building. Shirou brazenly followed, his coat making him a black shadow over Raphael as he slammed into the man the moment he landed, knocking him backwards towards the edge once more.

Sprinting towards him, Shirou slashed with his blades again and again, the attacks slamming against Raphael's Black Keys and leaving cross-patterned trails of energy as the swords flew through the air. It was minutes before Raphael finally managed to halt his offense, twirling around behind Shirou and then throwing them into a deadlock as his Black Keys caught Shirou's counter strike, his left hand aiming needles at Shirou's gut, but at the same time threatened by Shirou's own left blade, which hung barely an inch above his arm.

Barely a few steps from a six-story fall, the two could do nothing but keep their weapons where they were.

"_Now _I'm impressed, Emiya," Raphael muttered between ragged pants for breath, "Right now you are just like you were in the end, before the girl died. Didn't you kill one of my colleagues just a bit before that? Yes, I realize now that in times like these it is when you shine… but tell me, if you manage to survive this, what next? I still remember your speech. Justice indeed… but was that not disproven? How many people did you end up having to kill?"

Shirou's eyes widened at the comment, his heart starting to beat faster as Raphael's face took on an insane, almost unholy look.

"It would be delicious to watch, Emiya, watch what you'd do once you realize _that it's all turning black!"_

There was no way to stop it, because it was so suicidal that there was no way to predict it. The kick caught Shirou square in the chest, throwing him off the roof and into the air, but the momentum also carried Raphael with it, and he too was falling, his body barely a meter above Shirou's.

"You're mine, Emiya!"

A gloved hand reached for him, the other simply throwing the Black Keys down at Shirou. He managed to avoid the blades by twirling through the air as he fell, but Raphael's hands managed to catch him by the shoulders, grappling him. Shirou fought back, and he and Raphael wrestled in mid-air, quickly approaching the ground. He had to do something…

A flash of light ran through his coat, blinding him and Raphael, and Shirou barely managed to register that there was someone running in their general direction when he felt his back slam against the ground, sending waves of pain through his body. But his plan had worked – his Reinforced coat had absorbed most of the damage, actually creating a crater on the asphalt street.

His eyes widened as he saw that Raphael was struggling to get up, half-stunned. Whatever the man may have done to stop his own fall looked like it had been thrown off by Shirou's stunt, but he was apparently still alive and mostly uninjured.

Shirou got up, muscles screaming in protest, and faced him as he stood. Raphael glared at him, muttering something to himself in Italian before locking eyes with Shirou.

"I'm not dead yet… _Emiya Shirou_…" he snarled, eyes glazed over.

Still somewhat dazed, Shirou had no time to react as Raphael came out of his stupor, and he could only cry in pain as he felt a trio of needles slam into his right shoulder and the crushing weight of the man as he threw himself at him, slamming Shirou into the ground in an attempt to overpower him. He vaguely managed to register hearing a scream in the distance, the voice sounded awfully familiar…

Raphael's words still gnawed at him, but he knew who that was.

He knew what was going to happen to her if he let himself be killed.

'_I can't allow myself to die here!'_

Raphael's hands were getting closer towards his throat; there was no time, no time at all, but…

'_**Trace… on!'**_

Light and warmth flew from his body, and Kansho and Bakuya were in his hands once more. There was a kick, and Raphael was thrown off him. A final slash, and the battle was decided.

Shirou stood up, seeing Raphael in front of him, the man barely managing to stand as he clutched his side, blood spurting out of the wound.

But Shirou wasn't looking at him. He was looking behind him, at the girl that was just staring and shaking her head, frozen in dumbfounded panic. An idiot. He was an _idiot_. Without knowing it, he had pushed Raphael in the same direction she had run…

"Ayako?"

It took a second to utter her name and less than that for the situation to come crashing down. Shirou's voice seemed to alert Raphael, who turned around, needles in hand.

He was injured, but his needles could fly a lot faster than Ayako could run. Shirou had to act.

Gritting his teeth, he attacked.

TBC…

--------------------------------------------

A/N: So. Here's a quaint little story of mine, which I started waaaaay back in the summer of '07. It went through long, long periods of alternating neglect and attention before being finally finished. It's a mix of both very old and very new writing, and it shows. However, I like to think that the concept – after Fate, Shirou tries to go and follow his father's footsteps and it backfires, here are the consequences set on a dark backdrop with only the smallest of background details – is actually an enjoyable one. Bringing Ayako into it was something I'd wanted to do in an FSN fic for a long time, too, so I guess that also made writing this a tad more fun than it would have otherwise been.

Hope you guys liked it. Those guys who read through The Fanfiction Forum (heads up to you guys) might remember what comes next, albeit in extremely hurried, unpolished detail (it was a draft, after all). The rest of you, well… don't. Regardless, if you want to see what happens, tune in next time for Part 2. I can't promise that you'll love it… but maybe it'll entertain you.

-KW.


	2. Window to Wonder

**Part Two.**

'_**Shirou…'**_

'_**Yeah?'**_

'_**When you go back… can I come with you?'**_

The blade slammed into Raphael's right shoulder, cutting through cloth, flesh, and bone in its deadly path. Blood spurted out on every direction, staining the blade and running down Shirou's right hand. Before the severed arm had hit the ground Shirou's leg snapped forwards, catching the man on the knees and swinging him around. Bakuya twirled in Shirou's hands one last time, and heedless of the screams of pain and fright from two different sides, Shirou rammed the sword into Raphael's skull, between the eyes. The man's head snapped back as his skull was split open, blue fedora hat falling off. His blood spurted from the hideous wound in a crimson shower, bathing Shirou's hands a second time.

Raphael gave one last pained gurgle, a torrent of blood flowing from his mouth as he fell to the ground, dead.

Shirou stared at the corpse, breathing raggedly. Bakuya was still stuck inside its skull. Shirou still held Kanshou in his right hand. The blood was still dripping from it. Quietly, Shirou let the blade drop from his hand, releasing his grip on his Prana and letting both blades fade away.

'_What he said on that roof…' _the thought lanced through his mind like a knife, _'it couldn't be right…'_

A loud retching sound shook Shirou out of his stupor, and he looked up to see Ayako kneeling on the ground, wiping vomit from her mouth. Deathly pale, face and clothes covered in grime, vomit, and Raphael's blood, the sight of her was downright ghastly. Shivers ran down her body, and soon enough she was retching again, unleashing the remains of the previous dinner on the cold asphalt.

Shirou took a step forward hesitantly, stepping over Raphael's corpse. Ayako crawled backwards the moment she noticed him advancing, shaking her head wildly. "N-no… _no_… stay away…"

Shirou grimaced. He'd not been expecting something like this.

"Ayako, I-"

The girl tried to get up at his words, apparently to run, but her shaking knees failed her, and she fell on her butt, shivering. "No!" she screamed, and there was a terror in her voice, an uncontrollable quivering that shook her every word, "Whatever this is, whatever it's been, don't pull me into it. Just _who are you_, Emiya?"

Shirou stopped, cut to the quick by her words.

She said nothing more, just shaking her head over and over again. With a grimace, it dawned on Shirou that if he didn't do anything soon, Ayako might go into shock.

He threw one last look at Raphael's body. He didn't want to leave it here, but they needed to get out quickly before being found, and knowing how assassins like him operated, Raphael would have a way to dispose of evidence, including himself. Shirou made up his mind.

With a last sigh, he ran straight at Ayako, catching the scared girl in his arms and slinging her over his shoulder. Shaken out of her stupor, the girl flailed in his arms, shrieking.

"E-Emiya!" she shouted, "What- what are you doing!? Let me down!"

Shirou simply held her tightly, saying nothing as he turned around and started running down the street with all the speed he could muster, ignoring Ayako as she beat her fists against his back in futile resistance.

"Emiya, let me down! Let me down this instant!"

Her protest turned into a scared shriek as Shirou rounded a corner and started running directly into the wall of a building, heedless of an incoming crash.

"What are you doing, watch out!"

The warning was cut short as Ayako was forced to try and keep what little remained of her dinner inside her stomach as Shirou pushed prana up his legs and leaped up, placing his feet on the wall and running upwards in defiance of gravity. She shrieked again as Shirou reached the edge of the roof and easily climbed over it, running along the building's length to…

"N-no… you wouldn't dare, you wouldn't, nooooooo!"

Shirou jumped, landing on another roof and continuing to run, ignoring Ayako's screams of fright and shrieks for help.

The mad journey continued, with Shirou leaping and running across the length of the city. Night sparrows fled screeching in his wake as he leaped from rooftop to rooftop, high above the lights of the city with only the stars watching overhead. The humid wind chapped his face, still carrying the lingering drizzle the once-great storm had become. Out of fear or awe, Ayako grew quiet as Shirou ran, jumped, and climbed ever higher, eventually running across the rooftops of even the tallest skyscrapers, so high above that the city below seemed to take on a toy-like quality, a thousand gleaming lights moving across a black canvas.

Then came the defining moment. Shirou made an impossible leap from the large, spacious rooftop of one skyscraper to the needle-like structure of another, grabbing onto its lightning rod for balance. And then, for the split second before he jumped again, they could see the whole world; the moon as it shined above, the stars clearer than ever before, the gleaming river cutting across the city, the fields beyond it, and the horizon reaching out to the unknown.

And then Shirou began the journey downwards, and once more reality took hold. The gleaming lights gave way to darker alleys, and then to desolate streets lit by moonlight.

As they reached the iron gate barring the way to Shirou's home, Ayako finally found her voice. "Emiya…" she whispered hoarsely, "please just let me down… _please_."

Shirou, being himself, felt a pang in his heart at her pleading, and for a second was about to let her down, before stopping himself. He knew better than that.

He didn't want to prolong her discomfort, however, so he quickly walked through the entrance, across the surrounding lawn, and into the house, going in and locking the door immediately. He then marched into the living room, carefully depositing Ayako on a nearby couch. The moment the battered girl noticed that she was free she made to get up and run, but froze the moment Shirou took a step forward.

"Let me go, Emiya," she pleaded, "I promise I won't tell anyone what… what you did."

Shirou winced at the way she said it, as if he had committed some heinous crime. _'No,' _he thought to himself, _'I did what was right. Raphael would have brutalized her.' _And indeed, he would have, but Ayako didn't know that.

"Ayako," he said, "please, just let me explain-"

The girl shook her head.

"What's there to explain?" she asked. Her voice now sounded flat, as if the shock had siphoned all the life out of it, "you killed a man. Cut him open. Like a piece of meat."

She said nothing more, her face taking on a sickly tint. Shirou gave her a pained look as he realized how much damaged he'd caused. However, there had been no other choice, and now all he could do was try to fix things, like he always did.

"Ayako…"

"It was nothing to you, was it? I saw your face, when he screamed. You looked as if you'd done it a thousand times and would gladly do it a thousand times over. Why?"

Shirou flinched at her words. He shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, but Ayako cut him off once more.

"And… and the way you did it, Emiya, the way you fought," she said, "what was that? But… but no. Nevermind it. I don't want to know anything. Just let me go home. I'll keep my mouth shut. Just let me go."

She looked up at him. Her eyes were full of tears. "Please?"

Shirou sighed. That was what he wanted to do more than anything now, fix things perfectly, let Ayako go home, let her forget the whole ordeal, unable to be targeted by whatever new enemy had sent Raphael after him. He wanted that, but he knew it was impossible.

"You can't go home, Ayako."

Ayako blanched, her eyes snapped wide open, and she started trembling, honestly terrified. "You… you don't mean… you're going to…"

Shirou shook his head, the misunderstanding catching him by surprise. "No, of course not! But…"

"…what?" Ayako asked him with no signs of believing him.

"You need to hear me out first," Shirou said. "You need to, because while I won't do anything, after what happened I can't guarantee your safety. Please don't look at me like that. Just… listen."

Ayako gave a weak nod. Shirou went on.

"Look, Ayako, I… I have a secret that I haven't told you…"

Shirou paused, waiting for a comment from Ayako, a dramatic interruption from someone coming into the house, anything of the sort that usually happened in moments like this. When nothing came about, he went on.

"…I'm a magician."

He looked at Ayako, expecting a response. The girl just stared at him as if he were insane, and then slowly shook her head, wiping away several strands of blood-matted hair from her brow. "Are you telling me that magic is real?"

Shirou nodded. Ayako covered her face with her hands. "That's it. You've lost it. I've lost it."

"Ayako…"

"I -can't believe that… Emiya, it's insane," she said, tears running down her hands. When she uncovered them, her eyes were red."And… and even if… if I did… even if you could use magic… when you killed that man… magic didn't matter! You just c-cut him open! _You cut him open!"_

"Ayako, calm down!"

The girl, who had been about to get up from the couch, instantly grew quiet at the exclamation, staring at Shirou in fright. Sighing, Shirou calmly placed a gloved hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back into her seat. She stayed put, but her eyes were now firmly fixed on Shirou's hand, her whole body shivering in fright.

"Pl-please don't touch me…" she muttered. Shirou immediately withdrew his hand, as if he had been burnt.

"Ayako…"

"Magic… magic… magic…" she whispered to herself, ignoring him.

"Listen, Ayako," Shirou said, interrupting her, "Raphael was not a good man. Perhaps- perhaps if all of this hadn't happened so suddenly, you would understand. He would have killed you, Ayako, he _was going _to kill you, and I had to stop him."

Ayako just looked at him despondently.

"S-stop him, E-Emiya? You… you _slaughtered _him… if… if you have this _magic_, and I'm still not sure I believe you… there were so many ways to stop him, b-but all you did was make those swords… why? Why do it?"

Shirou sighed, bowing his head slightly.

"I… I'm not a good magician, Ayako, not in the way most would see it. I'm a failure at traditional sorcery, and because of that, my power, if you could call it that, centers around only one thing."

Gingerly, he extended his gloved hand, showing Ayako his open palm. After a few seconds of concentration, energy started crackling along its surface as his magical circuits responded to his will. Ayako flinched at the display, pushing herself back on the couch. Shirou hastened to quicken the process, pushing more energy into the thing.

Finally, there was a small flash of light, and Shirou was holding a short piece of iron, molded carefully into the shape of a small flower. Ayako stared in shock. "That's… impossible."

Shirou shook his head, letting the flower fall vertically onto a nearby coffee table. The pointed tip of the stem sliced through the wood like butter, cleaving the flower into the table. "Nothing is impossible."

"That's…"

"The stem is a knife. Weapons are all I know how to make." Shirou's eyes widened and he stopped himself, realizing he'd just been about to go off in a long spiel about himself, something Ayako didn't want to hear.

"I see." Ayako gave him a blank stare.

"I'm sorry," Shirou said with a grimace, "I wanted to make that point, but this isn't about me. Look, I'll just tell you what you need to know, and then you can-"

"Hang on, Emiya."

Shirou stopped again, looking at Ayako quizzically. The girl, though still shaken, looked quite a bit more determined than she'd had before.

"You… you said... that that man… this Raphael… you said that he was beyond redemption…"

"Yes, I did say that," Shirou responded, blinking in confusion.

Ayako nodded, then, appearing to gather her courage, spoke again.

"And what… what makes _you _the judge of that?"

Shirou was quick to respond. "He was an evil man. He slaughtered more men than you'll probably ever meet and would have willingly done it again. He needed to be taken to justice."

"Justice, huh?" Ayako asked. "With you as the judge, you as the jury, and you as the executioner?"

A cold chill ran down Shirou's spine when he realized he had no answer to that.

Ayako sighed, giving him a dejected look, her fear displaced by a sort of doleful disappointment. "I thought as much…"

"Ayako, I-"

"Emiya…" she interrupted, staring straight at him "I want to leave. Just… tell me what I need to know not to ever get into something like this again. Ever again. And then just… just let me go..."

Shirou sighed, feeling like beating his head against a wall. Just about everything that could have possibly gone wrong _had _gone wrong, almost as if a divine conspiracy had been unfolding against him. To top that, it was already getting late, and soon enough Ayako's absence from her home would go from worrying to alarming, and he'd have an even bigger problem in his hands.

There was no fixing this. He couldn't explain himself to Ayako. Indeed, he wasn't sure if, at this point, he could explain himself to himself. All he could do was to give Ayako what she wanted.

So he did. For the next half-hour, he told her of the existence of sorcery, the basics of it, and most importantly the dangers of her having seen it in action. He told her of the Mages' Association, and of their harsh policies against those who discovered sorcery, carefully omitting that according to their rules she was supposed to be dead. He told her of the Church and its agents, and warned her about there being other mages in Fuyuki besides him. He did not, however, mention Tohsaka Rin's nature. Much as Rin was a good friend of Ayako's, hers was not Shirou's secret to tell.

When all was said and done, he allowed Ayako to stand up from the couch, which she did shakily, pausing only to look herself over in a disgusted frown.

"I can't leave like this," she muttered, running her hands over her grime-encrusted clothing, paling slightly every time the mud changed into bloodstains, "I can just wash my face and hair in the sink, but the uniform…"

"I've a spare in the guest room," Shirou responded unthinkingly, pointing towards a door, "Tohsaka left it there once and hasn't come back for it."

Ayako just stared at him, then slowly shook her head in seeming disgust and walked into the guest room. Shirou sighed, too tired to try to correct that particular misunderstanding.

Several minutes later, she was clean and ready, and Shirou was walking her out of the house towards the complex entrance. When they reached it, he stood several meters away from her, allowing her to pass through, saying nothing. She did so, but paused at the threshold, as if wanting to say something. Shirou could only hope it would be something good, but at this stage…

"Emiya?"

"Yes, Ayako?"

"Please don't follow me."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day Shirou awoke to the sound of rain, turning his eyes to stare out the window, where they met a cold, grey sky. Wearily, he tried to get up from his futon, only to groan in pain and fall back onto it, his entire body sore.

'_Damn… it…'_

Sighing, he rolled over, and tried to get up again, wincing as his joints cracked in protest. He managed it this time, however, and sat cross-legged on the futon, breathing deeply.

"Bad dreams," he muttered. Bad dreams, and only a few hours of sleep. Despite Ayako's request, Shirou hadn't been able to bring himself to let her go alone, unprotected, and had shadowed her the entire way to her home, silently jumping from rooftop to rooftop, out of her sight.

After that, he'd spent part of the night patrolling the area around her home to make sure it was safe, until weariness had finally won out and he'd been forced to go back home.

This, coupled with his previous battle with Raphael, had left him a mess. It was a wonder he'd actually managed to wake up when he did.

'_These will take a while to stop hurting,' _Shirou thought with a grunt as he examined the bruises along his torso, _'especially since I won't be able to rest. I still have to go to school-'_

Wait. No, he didn't. It was a Sunday, he recalled. And at any rate, he was still supposed to be 'sick'.

With a pained sigh, he got up anyway. Better to rise as early as he could, just in case. Silently, he put a shirt on and walked outside his room towards the empty living room. Since he'd given no notice of his return, one else was home. Not Sakura, who, despite being 'in' on his excuse, would not have a reason to visit an empty house on a Sunday morning. Not Fuji-nee, who likewise had no reason to come here if Shirou and Sakura weren't there to feed her, and not Ilya, who was now under Fuji-nee's moderately careful authority. The empty kitchen, so constantly full of life in the aftermath of the Grail War, was now barren and depressing.

Not feeling up to cooking, Shirou extracted from the refrigerator some old milk of dubious quality, served himself a bowl of cold cereal, and sat down to eat, turning on the TV as he did so. The morning news reported on the unusual bouts of constant rain, the final decision by the city's safety committee on the "gas explosions" that had happened months ago (Shirou tried hard not to snort when they proclaimed that "everything was safe and had always been"), and some token idol's sordid affair with a school janitor. As expected, however, there was nothing about a body being found near the western residential district. So either Raphael had prepared an automatic way to dispose of his own corpse after death, or, and this was much more likely, someone _else _had removed him the moment Shirou left. The second option, Shirou thought as he finished eating and rose from the table to head to the living room, was certainly troubling – it meant that yesterday's danger was not yet over. As he slumped on a nearby couch, he could only wonder what the best course of action could be for him.

He looked at his coat, gloves, and boots, grimly noting that he'd resolved to go patrol the area around Ayako's house again. "At least there won't be any school to worry about today, now will there…"

Shirou abruptly stopped his muttering, a cold chill running down the length of his spine. In a flash, he was standing up from the couch; hands wide open in preparation to perform sorcery. Quickly, he slipped his boots on, hastily walking through the living room. _'The front entrance…'_

The dangerous presence was almost suffocating, but the wards weren't ringing, yet. Shirou looked around, unnerved. What kind of person could possibly produce such an aura without actually meaning him bodily harm?

Gritting his teeth, Shirou approached the front door, bending his knees slightly to settle into a combat stance. The presence was getting closer. _'Whoever it is, he's just outside the door…'_

With a grunt, Shirou reached for his magical circuits, feeling the blades only a push away from appearing in his hands. The only thing stopping him now was the fact that the wards had yet to ring…

_**WHAM!**_

The door, almost blown of its hinges, flew open with explosive force. Though stumbling back from the shock, Shirou managed to catch a glimpse of his would-be assailant.

Black hair. Slender legs. Angry blue eyes.

Death itself.

"_EMIYA!"_

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright then, Emiya, _explain yourself._"

Shirou gulped, trepidation filling him as Tohsaka Rin gestured angrily at the unconscious body of Ayako, who was currently lying on the living room couch.

"What the hell," he muttered.

"Oh, don't even try it," Rin said, glaring at him, "You know what you did. You told her about sorcery! _**Do you have any idea what that means!?"**_

Shirou threw her a bleary look. Suddenly, he wished he could just disappear, go off somewhere and take a nap. Unfortunately for him, reality promised only pain if he didn't speak quickly. "I suppose you want to hear the events behind this?"

Rin's stare became almost venomous. "You _suppose?"_

"Alright, alright…" Shirou sighed. "Just one thing, though – why exactly is Ayako here?"

Rin turned to look at Ayako and let out a breath, absently scratching the back of her head. "Honestly? I couldn't find anything else to do with her." She frowned. "One moment I'm minding my own damn business, and then Ayako bursts in, blabbering something about you, a man in a blue coat, and how she knows about sorcery and I'm the only one she could trust."

"And then?" Shirou asked.

"And then I knocked her out," Rin answered with a shrug, fixing Shirou an accusing stare, "and brought her to you, because I _knew_ you'd have something to do with it."

"Yeah," Shirou groaned, running a hand across his face, "pretty obvious, I guess."

"You _guess!?" _Rin shrieked, "Emiya, you _**complete imbecile!**_ Ayako's my friend too, and if she knows… you know what the rule is! Maybe if she could keep a secret, but the first thing she did was run to tell me!"

She trailed off, placing a hand on her forehead and shaking her head in exasperation. Smart enough to recognize the calm before the storm; Shirou decided he'd best speak up. "Tohsaka, I had no choice," he said, "I was attacked while Ayako was with me, and I using sorcery was my one shot at keeping us from getting killed."

Rin looked up, staring at him quizzically.

"You were attacked?" she asked with a frown, "Does this have anything to do with that insane trip you marched off to?"

"Yeah," Shirou answered grimly, "yeah, it does."

"But I got the notice from the Association the day before yesterday," Rin muttered, "The bastards assured me everything went well, there was surprisingly little conflict with the competing group, your team managed to recover the grimoire, and the case was closed."

"They lied," Shirou spat, fists clenched, "nothing went well. We managed to recover the grimoire, yes, but the Association conveniently forgot to mention the cost of that."

Rin looked at him cautiously, examining him with her eyes.

"What happened, Emiya?"

"Everything that could go wrong went wrong," Shirou said, feeling anger bubble up in the pit of his stomach. Unwittingly, he stepped forward. Suddenly, everything around him was searing hot, and he found himself desperately wanting to punch something.

Rin took on a worried look. "You didn't actually… engage them in combat?"

"We were forced to… they wouldn't give us a choice either way. Damn it, Tohsaka! People _died_! That blasted book wasn't worth what happened… I can tell why my father hid it, and why, after the Grail War, he preferred to keep himself dead to the world rather than help recover it."

Rin shook her head at this, fists clenched in impotent anger.

"Emiya…"

"After the mission, I thought it was over," Shirou said, the anger rolling off of him in waves, "I thought it was finally over, damn it, but the moment I got here I was attacked by one of their assassins, and I killed him. I killed him, and he deserved it!" His anger took over, and a gloved fist slammed into the coffee table. Rin just stared at him with an expression of mixed shock and pity, taken aback by the emotional outburst.

Tentatively, she reached out to him, placing a hand on Shirou's shoulder with an awkward expression, then slowly got closer, eventually encircling the boy in a hug, pressing herself against him. Dumbfounded, Shirou could do nothing but stare, his anger taken away by the sudden surprise.

"Tohsaka?"

Rin just sighed, shaking her head without letting go.

"Emiya, you idiot," she muttered, "you stupid, stupid idiot…" She let go after a few seconds, then looked up at him. Idly, Shirou noticed that her eyes were slightly wet.

"Let's go to the kitchen," she said, "I'll make some tea."

They did so, and soon enough the two of them were seated around the kitchen table, each calmly drinking from a cup. After several minutes of silence, Rin finally spoke up.

"So…" she said, "what do you plan to do now?"

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked.

"Well," Rin said, "you're going to have to face this situation. If you were attacked once there's a great chance that it will happen again."

Shirou nodded. "Yeah, I thought as much. I was planning to go patrolling around Ayako's area of town today, just in case they hadn't focused on her because of me, but-"

He stopped short, interrupted by a loud shriek coming from the living room.

"I _think_ that may be Ayako waking up…" Rin muttered, getting up from her chair.

In an instant, Shirou was out of his own chair, running towards the living room with Rin trailing slightly behind him. Sure enough, when they got there, Ayako was up and about, casting her eyes bewilderedly until her gaze finally landed on Rin and Shirou.

"E-Emiya! And..."

She pointed at Rin, shaking her head in incomprehension. "You… you're one of them too?" she asked, "I can't believe this!"

"Unless you're talking about something else," Rin said with a bemused expression, "then yes."

"I can't believe this," Ayako repeated, "and you, Emiya… what… what could you possibly want to bring me back here?"

"Ayako, I-"

"I think," Rin interrupted, eyebrows raised, "that it'd be best if you let _me _do the talking this time around, Emiya."

Calmly, she walked forwards, causing a scared Ayako to step backwards so far that she actually collided with the couch, plopping herself back down on it. Shirou grimaced, but forced himself to stay put.

"Ayako," Rin said, "I _think_ we need to talk over some things you may have missed. If what Emiya told me is true, and I know it is, then the shock from yesterday night did a number on you. But you're going to have to deal with it, and quickly, too."

"Talk?" Ayako asked, "Deal with it? Rin… if you're like… like _Emiya_, then there's nothing to talk about!" She made to get up from the couch, but Rin was infinitely faster, pinning her down with a single arm. Too scared to struggle, Ayako simply sat there, glaring. Rin glared right back. In the background, Shirou bit his lower lip, struggling to keep from joining the fray.

"I really don't think, _Mitsuzuri-san_, that you realize how lucky you were," Rin said, gaze boring into Ayako's, "Now, I don't know how Emiya sugarcoated it, but by all means, and according to the rules of the Mage's Association, Shirou should have _gutted you on the spot_ for having seen him use his powers. Did you ever wonder _why _he didn't do it?"

Ayako gulped, shaking her head.

"I-"

"Of course you didn't," Rin continued, "you were scared, and that's understandable, but it doesn't give you the right to assume that Emiya is evil, or a cold-blooded killer. Think about it. He didn't kill you because he _cared_. He actually cared about your fear."

Ayako shook her head.

"I… I don't know what to think…" she muttered, "but… but no! You weren't there! You didn't _see_ him, he's a murd-"

_**CRACK!**_

Ayako's head rolled back as Rin's left hand impacted against her cheek, sending her reeling. In moments, Rin had completely pinned her down with both arms, her whole body straddling Ayako's lap.

"Don't finish," Rin said, "don't finish that word, or I'll lose all the respect I've ever had for you. You're not acting like yourself, Ayako. Emiya is… look, you're scared, and fear is controlling you. But it's gotten out of hand. Ayako…"

Rin leaned forwards until her face was less than a few inches apart from Ayako's. "Get a grip."

A sort of stunned silence fell over the living room. Shirou gulped, rather afraid that breaking it would cause Rin to switch targets. He grimaced, taking a deep breath and hoping for the best.

"Ahem… Rin?"

The girl turned her head to look at him, hands still forcefully pinning a shocked Ayako to the couch.

"Yes, Emiya?"

"Don't you think it'd be better if you got off Ayako now?"

Rin blinked, then gasped as she saw exactly how she was holding the other girl. She'd been forced to bring her body up against Ayako while pinning her down, pressing her chest against her own rather obscenely. To top it off, she'd full-out straddled the girl in order to keep her from freeing herself, which meant that the warm spot her knee was currently pressing slightly against must be…

Silence reigned over the room once more, but this time it was quickly cut short as Ayako seemed to return from her stupor, staring at Rin with a quavering gaze. "Please listen to him?"

Blushing, Rin removed herself from the other girl. "At least I calmed her down," she muttered.

"Thank you," Shirou said earnestly.

"But I did it because she's my friend, and not because I like you or anything," Rin continued, giving him a stern gaze.

"Uh… alright?"

"Shut up."

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Not long after, everyone sat around the kitchen table, blushing, doing their best not to look at each other. Shirou stared at the floor, Rin stared at the ceiling, and Ayako stared at the surface of the table, fidgeting.

'_This…' _Shirou thought, _'is really rather awkward.'_

A strange quiet loomed over them, waiting only to be broken by someone. Surprisingly, it was Ayako who spoke.

"Emiya-kun?"

Shirou turned to look at her. Ayako was gripping the edges of the table with her slender hands, averting his gaze.

"Ayako?" Shirou asked tentatively, her previous fear still fresh in his mind.

The girl looked up. "I'm sorry… for calling you a murderer," she said, "I don't know what came over me."

Shirou blinked, rather dumbfounded. Disgusted with himself, he found that he'd been expecting an outburst. "Ayako… you've nothing to be-"

"I'm also sorry," the girl went on, cutting him off, "for not wanting to listen to you. I'm certain you couldn't have done any more to help me back there… given the circumstances."

"Ayako, I-"

"What I'm _not_ sorry for, though, is what I said earlier." She looked straight into his eyes. "Nothing gives us the right to judge when someone is beyond redemption."

'_**No one should have to be a sacrifice.'**_

'_**I told that to a very special person, not so long ago… and I still believe in it. Even now that she's gone.'**_

'_**Gone?'**_

'_**Yeah… she… she had to leave. But I still believe in what I told her, Yumi, I still believe in it. And I like to think… I like to think that I convinced her to believe in it as well.'**_

'_**Yeah… it's a beautiful ideal. If only the world were that fair…'**_

Shirou shook his head, fists clenching under the table. Ayako's words stung. He preached those ideals like a priest and then cast them aside the moment someone sufficiently aroused his anger. But then… images of the same girl he'd talked to being carried away, of people coughing blood and ordering him in a sharp voice to get moving without care for what happened to them, of Raphael's glinting green eyes and horrible smile, all that replaced his previous memory, and he found it difficult to control his words as his blood began to boil. Shaking his head and focusing himself, Shirou fixed his gaze on Ayako again, ready to respond.

"You didn't know him, Ayako," he said, "and I hope you never get to know anyone like him. I can't take back what I said, but I can promise you I'm not as quick at judging people as I may have appeared yesterday night."

Ayako nodded.

"Yeah…" she muttered, "couldn't really expect an agreement on that. But that aside… would you forgive me, Emiya-kun? Could we… be friends again?"

It was as if a massive weight had been taken off Shirou's chest after years of pressing down on him, finally allowing him to breathe. He nodded, grinning from ear to ear. He knew, deep down, that nothing short of a miracle or an otherwise astounding event could do away with the months or even years that would be needed for Ayako to fully have faith in him again, much less place more trust in him than she had before the incident. But at least now, however, things could be mended. At least now he could make an effort to bridge the gap. "Yes…" Shirou answered her, still grinning, unconsciously placing his hand on hers, "yes, of course…"

Ayako nodded, making no effort to remove his hand and giving Shirou a smile back. It was tired, as was natural after all that had happened, but it was also _genuine, _and that's what mattered.

"_Ahem."_

The happy solemnity of the moment was broken by the sharp interruption, and both Shirou and Ayako quickly withdrew their hands, almost jumping out of their seats as they turned to look at Rin, for whom the false severity of her gaze was doing nothing to hide her blush.

"T-Tohsaka?"

For a few seconds, Rin seemed to simply ignore her name being called, continuing to stare impassively at Shirou and Ayako. Soon, though, she seemed to snap back into reality, shaking her head as her cheeks reddened further.

"Ahem, yes, I…" she muttered before finally focusing, glaring as she finally seemed to muster some control over herself, "what I wanted to say is that your reconciliation's all well and good, but we still have work to do!"

She stood up abruptly from her chair, fixing Shirou a sharp stare.

"From what you told me a while ago there's still a chance that your enemies are still out there, so we'll need to get moving!"

Shirou blinked dumbfoundedly, before catching on and growing serious.

"You're right, Tohsaka," he asserted with a sharp nod, "we should…"

He stopped. Rin raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

Shirou shook his head, suddenly realizing that he had no real course of action now. "I'm not so certain what we should do."

Rin looked thoughtful for a bit. "We ought to scour the city. With luck, we might just find our enemy's lair. From then on, it would just be a matter of drawing him out."

Shirou nodded.

"If you're leaving," Ayako interjected, "I'd like to stay here. It feels safe, and… I'm not so sure I'm up to roaming the city right now."

Both Shirou and Rin turned to look at her in concern. "I don't think leaving you alone is too good an idea, Ayako," Rin pointed out. Shirou nodded in agreement.

"And what are the other options, Rin?" Ayako asked. "Taking me with you, where you'd have to constantly watch over me at best and where my being there might be a danger to you at worst? Dropping me home, where if anything happens other people will be involved?"

Rin turned away, biting down on her lower lip. Shirou sighed in defeat.

She was, they were forced to admit as they left the house to go into the dreary, wet streets of the city, completely right.

**A/N: **Paaart Two, wherein Ayako has trouble coping, Rin is a sexy, sexy tsundere (did I mention I love tsunderes? Because I do.), and the stage is set for Part Three and the coming climax. Hope you like it, and for God's sake, drop me a review. Not seeing a response, whether positive or negative, really _is_ rather discouraging.

-KW.


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